Backroom Talks

Apparently Cantor and Boehner met with Obama over the weekend to discuss the debt ceiling.  That followed a dramatic meeting with Biden.

Comments

[Clarice]

HEH Do you think that's an exact reenactment or a bit of a dramatization?

[Clarice]

I read yesterday that the deal must be voted on this Friday for complicated reasons.

[mikey]

As Ezra Klein has laid out, this is about whether our Federal Govt is 18-19% of GDP or 23-24% of GDP all depending on the level of taxation. That is the main reason the Republicans cant give on taxes.

The dirty little secret that everyone knows. The Dems could live with 2% GDP growth and 9% unemployment if the fed govt is spending at current levels. They would rather have that than full employment and high growth with 18% or Fed spending to GDP. At the higher levels they can lock their majority because of the % of Americans living off the Fed Govt. At 18% they have to fight for their power even though the average American is better off.

There is no Republican alternative to this scenario.

[Extraneus]

What's the point of negotiating anymore? Isn't the House voting on "cut, cap and balance" today?

Love that headline. "House to Vote on Tea Party-Backed Debt Plan," as if there's a real Tea Party, and some official position has been taken.

[daddy]

Does anyone remember what previous deal it was that Obama said had to be passed by some specific date, and then after it was passed he sat on it for a number of days before actually signing it?

I can't, but I remember being angry that Congress had jumped thru all these hoops to meet his pronounced deadline and then he dismissively sat on his can and neglected to sign the passed Legislation for a week or a weekend doing nothing.

[Extraneus]

There is no Republican alternative to this scenario.

112th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. J. RES. 5

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States requiring that the Federal budget be balanced.

`Section 2. Total outlays shall not exceed 18 percent of the gross domestic product of the United States for the calendar year ending prior to the beginning of such fiscal year.

[MarkO]

I do like the idea of having the House say that it is waiting for the draft of Obama's plan so it can take a vote on his "big" deal.

Failing that, they hope he will be quiet while someone does actual work.

[Jane]

I read yesterday that the deal must be voted on this Friday for complicated reasons.

I guess they want to pass it so they can find out what is in it.

[Ben Franklin Forever]

Was Bohner the one looking on, approvingly, as Biden kicked Cantor's butt?

[Clarice]

I remember that, daddy . I'm not sure but I think it was the Stimulus. But I think the Friday deadline has to do with bookkeeping issues and is not an Obama-deadline.

[anduril]

OT question:

I just saw a transcript of Michele Bachmann, a prayer she was saying, in which she said: "You are a Jehovah God."

I sincerely don't know what she means by this expression--I've never run across this expression before that I recall. Could someone please explain what this means?

[DebinNC]

...that Obama said had to be passed by some specific date, and then after it was passed he sat on it for a number of days before actually signing it?

Sounds like Porkulus, daddy,...Republicans locked out of the room, no floor debate, no time to read the bill due to the "emergency". Bill passed late at night and sent to Obama..who'd left town with MO for a "date night" in Chicago, leaving emergency bill to languish for four days waiting on I Won to return for signing.

[Danube of Thought]

It was the failed stimulus. He demanded that it be passed by a Friday, and when it was he took off for a long weekend in Chicago without signing it.

[Captain Hate]

Yeah I think it was Porkulus too. Does anybody remember King Putt saying that the jobs would grow in earnest when Bammycare was passed since that would give employers a good idea of how they would be immune to runaway health care costs in the future. That worked out well.....

[daddy]

Thanks for those answers guys. Another reason to despise the creep.

[Jane]

I note no one has said a word about O'Keefe's latest in the media.

Apparently wE must destroy Murdoch first.

I don't even understand the Murdoch thing. Piers Morgan hacked into phones for what?

[daddy]

BTW,

Yippee!!! My 7 visiting relatives who were here for the last 2 weeks are on the plane and out of here:)

Family is nice and all but living 3000 miles away from the closest in-laws can at times be a feature not a bug.

Perhaps its just me?

[Jane]

It's not just you.

2 weeks? Hell I would have killed myself.

[Jane]

BTW how do you trace an IP?

[Rick Ballard]

Gallup and the RCP average confirm the fact that the President is making a rather egregious error with his obstinacy. He's losing this one and Bin Laden isn't available to save him (I'll take Daffy in the dead pool, but it won't be the same).

The Friday "deadline" appears to be a function of Treasury scheduling. When it is "missed" we'll find out that that there was really a super secret backup plan to avoid whatever horror is supposed to occur.

[Janet]

It's not just you.

2 weeks? Hell I would have killed myself.

dittos

[Melinda Romanoff]

There's a maturity due on the 4th, Rick, but I can't remember which one.

[Extraneus]

Jane, type "whois" into Google.

[Danube of Thought]

Jane, Google "what is my IP address" and you'll find all sorts of places that will allow you to trace IP's.

An update on the Coronado mystery.

[anduril]

How disappointing--no one will answer my question.

Here's the problem I have. MB seems to be using the word "Jehovah" as an adjective, qualifying or describing "God": "a Jehovah God" as opposed to some other conception of God. I've never seen that usage before. Thus I'm trying to figure out what it could mean for "God" to be a "Jehovah" God. She wouldn't be saying it if it didn't have some meaning for her listeners.

This is a real question. Inquiring minds want to know, and I'm nothing if not an inquiring mind.

[matt]

I would suggest it may be an allusion to the God of the Old Testament, anduril, rather than the "buddy Christ" of the feel good preachers.

Interesting to note that AP is carrying a story on a $13 Billion "fix" to the health care bill that if if not corrected will create a new entitlement for middle class retirees who would then have access to free Medicare they would otherwise be ineligible for.

How many other glitches are in this bill? Did anyone ever sit down and put such a list together? And what about Bammer's claim to cut $60 Billion in Medicare fraud as a part of his cost reduction effort?

[anduril]

matt, I know that it's an allusion to "the God of the OT," but it's the adjectival use that's perplexing. Of course, there are different views expressed of God in the Israelite scriptures, from the warrior god to an almost mothering image. She's obviously using this as almost a code, a metaphor that her listeners will readily pick up. Since she's talking about the "end times" in the prayer I'm taking it as meaning God as gathering his people in for the Rapture, but then that means it's also the God who'll be afflicting Catholics like me (and others) who are left behind.

Some of the stuff that's coming out about her suggest to me that she may be truly unwell. However, I wanted to understand this for myself since the metaphorical usage is clearly expressing a belief system that's common to both her and her listeners. Tx

[macphisto]

i'm not a fan of Bachmann, but i wouldn't get too excited about the "truly unwell" thing. apparently she has migraines. lots of people have migraines. it's not a big deal. Kennedy had debilitating back problems, and FDR was paraplegic; both had chronic pain problems and were medicated to the gills; neither are viewed by history as disqualified by their disabilities.

[Jane]

The difference is they were democrats

[Boatbuilder]

Anduril--I suspect that most non-Catholics consider Catholic doctrine to be mumbo-jumbo and nuttiness; thus any practicing Catholic is a subscriber to a whacky "belief system" from the perspective of the non-Catholic. Same for Mormons, Baptists, Episcopals, Hindus, Buddhists and Zoroastrians. Give it a rest.

[Jack is Back!]

And look at the mess we are in as a result of those debilitation pain. I wonder what Obama's excuse will be? The smoking? The Occipital Lobotomy? MIchelle's harping and right-cross? Soros' nagging phone calls?

[Jane]

The IP address thing just got me gobbledygook

[Boatbuilder]

The previous post was posted before I read about the "Catholics on the shore" in the previous thread. Honest.

[Extraneus]

What are you trying to do?

[Jane]

I'm all set Ex, thanks.

[anduril]

i wouldn't get too excited about the "truly unwell" thing. apparently she has migraines. lots of people have migraines. it's not a big deal.

But there are some factors that are more of a deal. The days long periods of "incapacitation." The suggestion that the migraines are brought on by emotional ups and downs. The meds.

Kennedy had debilitating back problems, and FDR was paraplegic; both had chronic pain problems and were medicated to the gills; neither are viewed by history as disqualified by their disabilities.

FDR's main disability was his politics, which should have been disqualifying, IMO. I'm no expert on the meds, but I have heard that Kennedy's are blamed by some for his reckless behavior. These are issues which really should be out in the open when we're talking about presidential candidates.

Not that I'm worried about Bachmann getting elected, or probably even nominated. It's the image thing for the party.

I suspect that most non-Catholics consider Catholic doctrine to be mumbo-jumbo and nuttiness; thus any practicing Catholic is a subscriber to a whacky "belief system" from the perspective of the non-Catholic.

You're not telling me anything I don't already know. Of course, those people are uninformed.

Give it a rest.

Here's the thing: unlike you, apparently, I'm not a relativist and I think most issues can be settled to a reasonable degree of probability. Like medications that can affect one's perception of reality, I think "religious" beliefs are highly relevant to anyone's candidacy. Thus, Obama's association with Jeremiah Wright as well as his crypto Muslim childhood in Indonesia seem quite relevant to me, as also are Bachmann's beliefs. Of course, anyone opening their mouth on such issues should take the trouble to get informed.

The previous post was posted before I read about the "Catholics on the shore" in the previous thread.

Before I read it, too. If nothing else, it shows that the Catholics were at least possessed of common sense--staying on the shore. :-)

[anduril]

At Politico:

Report: NRSC, Obama donor arrested as Pakistan agent

NBC reports:

Law enforcement sources say the FBI has arrested an agent of Pakistan's official state intelligence service, accusing him of making thousands of dollars in political contributions in the United States without disclosing his connections to the Pakistani government.

Me: excellent to see the law (FARA) being enforced. As always, I maintain that FARA is a good law that should be rigorously and even handedly enforced.

[David Jay]

Anduril:

I'll take a shot at your question -

Jehovah is a (greek?) translation from the Hebrew "Yahweh", or "I Am", the name that God gave to Moses. It speaks of both timelessness and immanency.

Like one could say that God (the God of the Bible) is a "loving God" or a "just God", I believe she is referring to the immanent nature of God, i.e. a "present God"

Shaeffer wrote a book entitled "The God Who is There", a similar concept.

[cathyf]

Ok, a practical question... Suppose that, instead of raising the debt ceiling, we impose lots of new taxes to finance the drunken-sailor spending. Suppose, then, that as lots of us have been predicting, the revenue gains from the new taxes is offset by the revenue losses from the old taxes. (As in when companies lose money or simply close they don't pay corporate income taxes. When people lose their jobs they don't pay income taxes, social security taxes or medicare taxes. When the stock market crashes people don't pay capital gains taxes. Etc., etc.)

So where is the money going to come from to fund all of the drunken-sailor spending?

[narciso]

That would be these fellows,

Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai, 62, a US citizen and resident of Fairfax, Virginia, was
arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday. The second man, Zaheer Ahmad, 63, is also a US citizen but lives in Pakistan, is at large.

Very near beer by my lights, yes the ISI, like the SAVAK, General Intelligence is involved in everything,

[Neo]

This LUN certainly clears up my misunderstanding of the purpose of Obama's golf outings. Here I thought he was goofing off and such, but for our federal government, this is business.

[Threadkiller]

Neo, my spoof detector broke. Is that for real?

[anduril]

TX DJ.

Very near beer by my lights

Richard Perle it's not, this I'll grant.

[MarkO]

Ah,yes. The better part of valor and all that. We happy few GOP'ers are good losers. Fine fellows, well met.

“This is more bipartisan,” Coburn says. “‘Cut, Cap and Balance’ would work, but the fact is, you need to get the votes for it.” He calls the “Gang of Six” plan a “good first step” and hopes conservatives recognize that the $500 billion in immediate spending cuts, plus the long-term $3.7 trillion in reductions, are “real” and “buy us time to work over the next three or four years” to enact deeper reforms.

“It’s not a tax hike, it’s a $1.5 trillion net tax reduction,” Coburn says when asked about conservative groups’ likely opposition to the deal. He cites the plan’s elimination of the Alternative Minimum Tax as an example of its conservative bona fides.

“The American people want compromise, they want to solve the problem, and they want to see significant changes,” Coburn says. “It accomplishes all of those things. It doesn’t go far enough, but it takes a pretty big bite out of the apple.”

Balanced. Taxes. Cuts in the future. This should reelect Obama. Thanks for that.

DOOM

[Janet]

“The American people want compromise,

That is just a d#*n lie. The MFM/Dem machine wants compromise when the Dems are weak. Otherwise it is cram the liberal agenda down America's throat when the Republicans are weak....which is pretty much always.

[JM Hanes]

Jane:

The "whois" database (i.e. "Who is X") allows you to look up the IP of a website's host servers (or some such) when I expect you're trying to uncover the IP address of someone posting on a blog? Those are two different things, but unfortunately, I don't know how to do the second one.

Rick:

"The Friday "deadline" appears to be a function of Treasury scheduling."

I misread "Treasury scheduling" as "Treasury schadenfreude." Could we call that a freudian slip?

[JM Hanes]

matt:

"And what about Bammer's claim to cut $60 Billion in Medicare fraud as a part of his cost reduction effort?"

When there is $60B in fraud, that's a political gimme.

Wish I had time to look for the speech in which Obama said it was foolish to think you could solve all our financial woes by just implementing efficiencies, and then immediately proceeded to propose 10 ways to cut spending by.....

Obama must be the all time champ of contradicting himself in the same breath.

[hit and run]

Here you go

Following The Arc From "You Sit Thinking, 'You Know, Maybe. I Don't Know.'" To "Yes We Can"

So because all this spending is popular with both Republicans and Democrats alike, and because nobody wants to pay higher taxes, politicians are often eager to feed the impression that solving the problem is just a matter of eliminating waste and abuse – you’ll hear that phrase a lot. “We just need to eliminate waste and abuse!” The implication is that that tackling the deficit issue won’t require tough choices.

...

Already, the reforms we passed in the health care law will reduce our deficit by $1 trillion. My approach would build on these reforms. We will reduce wasteful subsidies and erroneous payments.

[MarkO]

The GOP needs better writers.

[Pops]

When you are arguing about the debt ceiling and bipartisanship, you would do your readers a service

By backing up and seeing how we got here.

Obama came into office and immediately began additional borrowing, without any request or even hint of bipartisanship.

He froze the Republicans out and said “I WON”. He borrowed 800 Billion for his stimulus over the Republicans objections.

He increased the federal budgets and passed Healthcare all without Republicans support and in fact made many moves to avoid having to do any bipartisanship or compromise including using procedures to avoid Republican interference.

All the while the Republicans requested Obama give them a seat, all the while they said we don’t object to stimulus, we don’t object to Budget changes, we just want you to pay for them Obama rejected it all.

He even ignored his own debt commission and submitted a budget with no cuts in spending.

Now the Obama bill has come due, he spent trillions and burned through our borrowing authority, now he comes back to the Republicans and says, now rubber stamp all my lavish and wasteful spending that didn’t help the economy at all.

If he had paid for his spending over the last 3 years, we wouldn’t be here today, we’d have plenty of borrowing authority left.

And the media and the Democrats think the Republicans should just go along, ohh well, you spent it all, here’s some new credit cards, have fun.

So now the media and liberal calls are for the Republicans to COMPRIMISE.

And the Republicans delivered. They agreed that even though they opposed Obamas spending sprees, they agreed to raise the debt ceiling.

They came half way, simply by that compromise.

Then they came more then half way, they agreed to raise the debt ceiling to get Obama past the next election.

So they have compromised and compromised big, and yet we hear more and more calls for compromise.

All they have asked in return is something very simply, start paying for what you spend and prioritize federal spending

Or you will bankrupt the Nation and none of your beloved programs will survive.

Period, end of story.

[Ben Franklin Forever]

Immigration, the Economy, business.....all connected.

Chipotle profit misses as food, legal costs weigh

Lisa Baertlein
Reuters US Online Report Business News

Jul 19, 2011 19:11 EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Chipotle Mexican Grill's quarterly profit missed expectations for only the second time in its history after margins were hurt by higher food prices and legal costs related to a federal probe of illegal immigrant hiring.

The company also booked a significant investment-related charge, and its shares fell 4.3 percent in extended trading.

The burrito chain said publicity about the U.S. Attorney's criminal investigation into its hiring practices appeared to drive higher employee turnover in April and May.

Executives said turnover had begun to moderate in the last month or so and they expected it to return to normal levels.

Turnover now is running around 120 percent, higher than the company's normal rate of 100 percent, Chipotle said, adding that many rivals have turnover of as high as 160 percent.

Higher turnover results in higher labor costs and can slow down service.

"It worries us that we saw turnover increase recently," co-Chief Executive Monty Moran said on a conference call with analysts.

"I'm not expecting it to be a long-term problem, but it was a surprise in the quarter," William Blair & Co analyst Sharon Zackfia said of the higher turnover.

[anduril]

Here's a kinda fun little quiz. Today WRM wrote a short blog on Antisemitism, The Hate That Dares Not Speak Its Name.

After you read that--and especially Mead's Five Pillars of Antisemitism--check out these three stories/blogs that also appeared today and see how you'd rank the authors based on Mead's analysis:

Yes Mr. Lieberman, I'm a proud Jewish terrorist

Jewish settlers are terrorising Palestinians, says Israeli general

Documents Shed Light On Those Underwriting The Foundation For Defense Of Democracies

[anduril]

I'm linking to the FR summary because there are some entertaining comments: New Muslim lashed for drinking in Australia.

[JM Hanes]

Fantastic, hit! That it is, indeed, the very speech I had in mind!

[squaredance]

The Republicans are gelded idiots. This is a nightmare.

Watch the MSM tout Obama as the principled savior of the nation, and watch the mindless electorate eat this nonsense up.

The GOP just opened up a third party run next year, and it will mean Obama is back in there for another term, and most likely, the GOP will loos what advantage it had in the house. Then all caution will go out the door.

With the 2010 elections and all that has gone on since 2008, one would think that this would be a slam dunk. One again the GOP "leadership" has proven what incompetent, spineless and feckless cowards they are.

Maybe Perry, Rubio and Palin can get out there and yet save the day, but it seems more and more that the electorate is clueless and gullible.

They cannot rise above the demagoguery, lies and propaganda of the Democrats.

The GOP had a real chance this year and they turned right around and blew it. It seems that they can do nothing else.

[Janet]

Agree, squaredance. My Mom...81 yrs old thinks a Perry/Rubio ticket are our only chance.

the demagoguery, lies and propaganda of the Democrats.

It has been successful for them. Even here at JOM we regularly bash our "mediocre" candidates, while the Dems elected a guy that had done nothing, nobody knew, mystery background...AND he was elected because he was so smart & qualified!!!! :(